The present disclosure generally relates to automotive vehicles and, more particularly, to a moveable flexible roof for use in an automotive vehicle.
It is known to employ flexible roof covers for automotive vehicles. For example, a flexible roof cover can be retracted by winding it around a spring loaded roller. Such designs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,245,278 to Sherman issued Nov. 6, 1917; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,378 to Sutren issued Apr. 25, 1972. More recent variations of single and flexible sunroof covers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,783 to Chamings et al. issued May 28, 1991; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,163,260 Reitzloff et al. issued Jan. 16, 2007. All of these patents are incorporated by reference herein. Many of these flexible roof covers are limited to small vehicles. As the size of the flexible roof increases, problems such as roof chatter and oscillation occur due to aerodynamic effects occurring while a vehicle is traveling at higher rates of speed. Thus, there is a need for a new apparatus and methods for the deployment of flexible roofs in automotive vehicles.